Michael Madison appears in East Cleveland Municipal Court this week. The county medical examiner's office says two women he is accused of killing were strangled. The manner of the third victim's death could not be identified.The Plain Dealer

Shirellda Helen Terry, 18, and Angela Deskins, 38, died the same way, while Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner Thomas Gilson attributed the cause of death of Shetisha Sheeley, 28, to "homicidal violence by unspecified means.''

In an interview, Gilson said the advanced decomposition prevented authorities from determining a specific cause of death for Sheeley. He said the deaths of Terry and Deskins stemmed from ligature strangulation, meaning an object such as a rope or cord were used. He declined to go into detail, citing the investigation.

He also would not estimate when the women were killed.

"That's at the heart of the investigation,'' Gilson said.

Gilson's rulings bring back memories of convicted serial killer Anthony Sowell, who strangled many of the 11 women he killed and buried in and around his Imperial Avenue home. In Sowell's case, authorities said many of the deaths stemmed from ligature strangulation.

Police found the remains of the women, many of whom had been reported missing, over several days in late 2009. A jury convicted Sowell, and a judge sentenced him to death.

On Thursday, East Cleveland Mayor Gary Norton said authorities will continue to search for other possible victims. Police Chief Ralph Spotts told The Plain Dealer that Madison stopped speaking with officers soon after his arrest. But he said Madison left open the possibility that there might be other victims.

Madison, 35, is expected to be indicted within a few weeks in the deaths of the three women. He is being held on a $6 million bond.

Last week, police found the women wrapped in plastic bags. Soon after the discovery, volunteers searched the city's abandoned homes, and they are expected to continue in the days ahead.

Gilson's release on the causes of death came the same day as news broke about another traumatic crime against women. Ariel Castro of Cleveland pleaded guilty today to hundreds of charges in the kidnappings and rapes of three Cleveland women -- Gina DeJesus, Michelle Knight and Amanda Berry -- he held hostage for about a decade.

He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole when Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Michael Russo sentences him.

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